Men’s Fashion Wear Part 2

Adrien Flammier has arrived in San Francisco in August 2012 with his wife and daughter. I asked about his style and he expressed that he is very “frenchy” which it is an advantage for the Frenchmen in general since where he comes from it is almost an obligation to be up-to-date on your style. “I like fashion and everything that involves it, says Adrien.

Karina: Tell us about yourself

I came here with my wife and my daughter. I am a hair stylist which gets me very involved in the fashion industry. and I love what I do. I was the head of a salon in Europe before I came and I am very grateful to have landed in San Francisco. This place has a lot of fashion and this is what I am about.

Adrien: What is your style?

First of all i have to confess that I like when people look at me so I better be on my best. I don’t have a specific style myself but I like to mix and change everyday. So to answer this question, I would say my style is how my soul feels everyday.

How do you dress every day?

I take time in the morning to dress and everyday I dress differently. I like to be classic and well put together.

How many times a year/ week/ day you go shopping?

I dont like to shopping just for the sake of it. If I see something that I really like and I have the time I will definitely stop at the store and buy it. I always like to try my clothes before I pay for it and so time is very important. I usually go shopping twice a year and I buy many different items that I can mix and match daily creating a different look every time. I am very practical in the sense of using my time wisely. I do not follow the trends and the fashion but certainly I can’t help to buy something that has been shown in the runways around the world. I am a business man who really can’t spend so much time shopping and since I do not like to shop online, I need to be on top of my “fashion game” and structure it in a way that it will works well for me, for my profession and my family.

Why don’t you like online shopping?

I do recommend but for my personal preference I don’t really trust when comes to the sizes and colors and style. I need to see and try it before I buy it so I don’t need to go through the hassle of returning anything and waiting for it. I prefer to go to the store.

K: What can you tell to the men out there in general who like fashion but don’t know how to dress?

A: I think the homosexual community definitely care more about dressing better but that doesn’t mean that straight men will be labeled as if he is gay just because he is dressing well and elegant. On the contrary, men should always dress well. In France 80% of the men dress very well everyday and it is almost a crime not to. It is part of the culture. There are no segregation between homosexual or heterosexual, it just simply for the fact that we love fashion, no matter what.

If you like to dress well don’t be afraid if you don’t know. You can go the store and try. Try the outfit is the key. It can become a disaster if you try something before your event. It is common sense. Your measurements are very important and you don’t need to be super in shape to look good. Take some time and go to the store Men! Looking good make you feel better. And you must, must feel comfortable in it. If you think you don’t have any style, try getting out of the box.

After moving to San Francisco from Mexico in 2000, Miguel Lopez has been living and working here for 13 years. He worked at MaxMara in downtown SF as a stock person. He was recruited by Raulph Lauren to work as an associate where he remained for 7 years gaining knowledge in high end retail.

Karina: Tell me how everything started.

Miguel: Besides my work here in USA, back in Mexico we own clothing stores where we have our own clothing line which my partner was taking care of the business while I was working for Ralph Lauren. With all the experience I was gaining and dealing with we both have decided to buy and sell vintage items and collector items to our business and put our effort together and created our own store :Sui Generis in 2006 following the examples of Wasteland and Crossroads.

Karina: It has been 13 years. Were you always in this location?

Miguel: No. We were on Church st which was a space of only 200sq feet of retail space and we were really focusing in vintage items. A year later we started receiving consignment from different clients and so we have decided to move to a larger location. With all of that consignment we were receiving we couldnt stay anyway. The location where the women’s store is located today, it is where we were from 2008 till 2011.

Karina: So tell me about your partner and your second store:

Miguel: My business partner is also my life partner. We have been together for 20 years. Our 2nd store is our women store which is our neighbour Sui Generis Ella and the Men’s store is called Sui Generis Elle

I worked 7 years for Couture department at Ralph Lauren which is a top of the line collection for women. Since I have made great connections and kept a good clientele, after several years with them, I have decided to quit and invest my efforts in our store and so we moved the men’s store to this larger location which is 2000 sq/feet of sale’s floor. We kept the old location and Sui Generis Ella was born. “Ella” is very lucky that the department I worked for, became our first consigner.

Karina: Now focusing on the Sui Generis “Elle” Men’s wear, how would you Describe the style of the clothing line at the store?

Miguel: Obviously it is fashionable but we dont follow only one fashion trend. We are more contemporary classic store that relates to San Francisco taste. Everything here is the face of the city and 80% to 90% of our consigners are local. All we sell here is a reflection of San Francisco style which includes very quality items. Our style is very classic but at the same time very forward with the sense of remembering that fashion goes and comes really quickly. And so our job is to concentrate in styling the people with our pieces.

Karina: Who are your clients?

Miguel: Our first clientele were gay related when we opened but through the years it has been changing in the fact that we are growing and straight male have really embraced our style and services. What we sell is for everyone.

Karina: What can you say to the men out there who is afraid to look good or become fashionable because of outer judgements? And to the public in general, how can they dress well without any interference?

Miguel: I dont think you need to be fashionable in any situation, you just need to be conscious about your proportions which makes everything look better. You can be wearing any designer or any brand’s jacket and if it has the right proportions related to your body and the right outerations you will look a million dollar guy. Does that makes sense?

Our mission is to bring quality and stylish products also for people who are afraid of fashion or go shopping in downtown. We want you to look good and learn about fashion right away. Our slogan is “quality and luxury”.

You can come to their store and learn and be mentored in different brands for your own style and start dressing alike and so one day you will be available to shop downtown and hopefully become our consigner, this is our cycle! You can find Sui Generis on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at www.suigenerisconsignment.com

I had a great time getting to know Miguel Lopez and Gabriel, the owners of Sui Generis. Stop by! They DO have style.

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About The Site

FSHN (Fashionable, Sexy, Haute & Nouveau) is a world fashion magazine headquartered in San Francisco, Ca. We cover fashion from North & South America, Europe, Middle East and South East Asia. We are distributed in print all over the US West Coast & New York and available digitally all over the world.